By Ray Hill Carroll Reece had first been elected to Congress from Tennessee’s First District in 1920 when he defeated Congressman Sam R. Sells inside the Republican primary. Sells had served for a decade before losing to Reece, who had been recognized for his bravery...
Ernest McFarland of Arizona
By Ray Hill Outside of Arizona, few people remember Ernest McFarland save for the man Barry Goldwater beat to get to the United States Senate. Yet Ernest McFarland was much more than a rudimentary politician. McFarland rose from county judge to United States...
Milton R. Young of North Dakota
By Ray Hill Milton Ruben Young is a name very few of my readers are likely familiar with and he was an improbable member of the United States Senate. Even in his native state of North Dakota, Young is something of vague figure despite almost thirty-six years of...
Congressman Sam McReynolds of Tennessee
By Ray Hill Very few people remember Samuel Davis McReynolds, who was a long-time Congressman representing Tennessee’s Third District, which includes Chattanooga; yet during his time, he was a highly influential member of the House of Representatives. Quite...
Carroll Reece: Tennessee’s ‘Mr. Republican’ Pt12
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece had spent a decade in Congress serving Tennessee’s First Congressional District when he had been upset by Oscar Byrd Lovette, the former district attorney general from Greene County in the 1930 general election. Reece had faced a tough...
Carroll Reece: Tennessee’s ‘Mr. Republican’ Pt9
By Ray Hill Brazilla Carroll Reece had served Tennessee’s First Congressional District in Congress for ten years before losing the 1930 general election to Independent candidate Oscar Byrd Lovette. It was the first time in 52 years any candidate aside from a...
Carroll Reece: Tennessee’s ‘Mr. Republican’ Pt8
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece, congressman from Tennessee’s First Congressional District, had served for a decade. Yet, in the 1930 general election, Reece found himself surprisingly hard pressed by the challenge of Oscar Byrd Lovette, the former District Attorney for...
The Knoxville Focus for April 26, 2021
Remembering Senator Bill Brock By Ray Hill Bill Brock died March 25, 2021 of pneumonia while in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Brock was one of the founders of Tennessee’s modern Republican Party and he had a great deal to do with turning the Volunteer State into a...
Carroll Reece: Tennessee’s ‘Mr. Republican’ Pt7
By Ray Hill By 1930, Carroll Reece, congressman from Tennessee’s First Congressional District, had served for a decade in the House of Representatives. Reece had defeated an incumbent who had also served for ten years in Congress to win the Republican nomination in...
The Death of Estes Kefauver
By Ray Hill Lyndon Johnson once called Estes Kefauver, “The greatest campaigner of them all.” Kefauver was no silver-tongued orator; in fact, he was oftentimes tongue-tied and frequently mangled names and phrases. Yet Estes Kefauver likely had no peer as a...
-
Edward Hull Crump: The Boss, Part VII
By Ray Hill Despite...
-
The U.S. Senate In The Age of McKellar: 1917 – 1953
By Ray Hill Kenneth...
-
The Senator’s Secretary: D. W. McKellar
By Ray Hill...
-
A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar Chapter 1
By Ray Hill It will...
-
A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar Chapter 2
By Ray Hill Kenneth McKellar...
-
A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar, Chapter 3
By Ray Hill Even as a...